356 



MEDICAL BOTANY. 



Cephalanthus. — Linn. 



Calyx tube obpyramidal, limb 4-toothed. Corolla tubular, slender, four-cleft, lobes 

 erect, with a valvate aestivation. Stamens 4, somewhat exserted. Style filiform, very 

 long, with a capitate stigma. Fruit inversely pyramidal, coriaceous, 2 — 4-celled, nearly 

 bipartite, and each cell nearly bivalve and one-seeded. Seeds with a rind or corky 

 arillus. 



A small genus of shrubs with oval or lanceolate, opposite or ternate leaves, 

 furnished with short, distinct, or somewhat united stipules. The flowers are 

 densely congregated in a globose head, on a terminal or axillary peduncle. The 

 species are all American, if , the genus be restricted to the two-seeded, which 

 has been done by Richard, and others. 



C. occidentalis, Linn. — Leaves opposite and ternate, glabrous, ovate, or oblong-oval, 

 acuminate, petiolated ; peduncles longer than the heads, often ternate at the extremity 

 of the branches. 



Linn., Sp. PL 138 ; Torrey and Gray, Fl. ii. 31 ; Barton, Fl. Am. Sep. 

 iii. t. 91 ; Rafinesque, Med. Flo?', i. 100. 



Common Names. — Button Bush, Pond Dogwood, Globe Flower, &c. 



Foreign Names. — Bois de Marais, Fr. ; Scabiosa Americana, It.; Ame- 

 ricanische weissbau, Ger. 



Fig. 169. Description. — A shrub 



irom three to fifteen feet 

 high, much branched, 

 bark, smooth on the 

 branches, rough on the 

 stems. Leaves opposite 

 or ternate, with red pe- 

 • tioles, oval, base acute, 

 apex acuminate, margin 

 sometimes undulate, 



smooth on both sides, or 

 sometimes more or less 

 pubescent. The flowers 

 are terminal, forming 

 round balls of a cream- 

 white colour, about an 

 inch in diameter, on pe- 

 duncles of two inches 

 long. Calyx lube pro- 

 duced above the ovary, 

 teeth obtuse, persistent. 

 Corolla with a somewhat 

 funnel-shaped tube, with 

 four ovate segments. 

 Stamens not much longer 

 than the corolla, with 

 yellow anthers. Style 

 filiform, much exserted, 

 with a yellow stigma. 

 Capsules small, crowded, 

 formed of two half bi- 

 valve cells, with the valves opposite, each containing one seed. 



The Button-bush is found in most parts of the United States, in low, wet 

 situations, or on the banks of streams and ponds. There are several varie- 

 ties, as regards the size and pubescence of the leaves. It flowers in July 

 and August, and has a peculiar and heavy odour. The wood is light and 

 spongy. The whole plant is bitter, but this quality is most developed in the 

 bark of the root. This, when dried, somewhat resembles Cascarilla in ap- 



C. occidentalis. 



